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Florida vs. Tennessee prediction: Who wins, and why?

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Florida vs. Tennessee prediction: Who wins, and why?


Tennessee has almost certainly played itself out of the College Football Playoff conversation, but it can still put itself into a decent bowl and end its season on a high note with a win here, combined with another against insurgent rival Vanderbilt.

Florida has no ability to get to a bowl at just 3-7, but can hand two of its rivals an ugly late-season loss with a good showing against the Vols this week and then against Florida State in the finale.

Tennessee Volunteers vs. Florida Gators football game prediction

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1. Tennessee’s Offensive Explosiveness

Tennessee enters the matchup with the No. 2 offense in the country, led by quarterback Joey Aguilar and a host of playmakers at the skill positions.

The Volunteers average 43.4 points per game and almost 500 total yards, frequently hitting explosive plays in the passing game and mixing in a solid running attack.

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For Florida to have a chance, its defense must contain Tennessee’s high-powered offense and disrupt Aguilar’s rhythm early.​

2. Florida’s Run Defense and Second-Half Play

A key storyline is Florida’s struggle against the run, giving up 470 rushing yards in its last two games, and its inability to play a full 60 minutes, particularly on offense.

Tennessee uses their run game to set up play action, and Florida’s defense must get set quickly against the Vols’ up-tempo approach.

The Gators also need to improve offensively in the second half, as scoring droughts and stalled drives have cost them winnable games.​

3. Turnover Margin

Both teams have had turnover issues, but it has been particularly damaging for Florida, ranking near the bottom nationally in giveaways.

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Tennessee is opportunistic, forcing 19 turnovers this season, and the Volunteers thrive when winning the turnover battle.

Key takeaways or lost possessions could swing momentum and prove decisive in a game that is expected to be close, with simulations and expert picks predicting a one-score outcome.

Bettors predictably are siding with the Vols, but expect a much closer game.

Tennessee is a 3.5 point favorite against Florida, according to the updates game lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook.

FanDuel lists the total at 57.5 points for the matchup, and set the moneyline odds for Tennessee at -178 and for Florida at +150 to win outright.

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Florida Gators vs. Tennessee Volunteers football game prediction

Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tennessee has not won a game at Florida since 2003, a streak of 10 straight losses, but if there is a year where the Gators can get got in the Swamp, this is it. Just ask USF.

Joey Aguilar leads a Vols offense that is among the most explosive and consistent in college football, but it has one major weakness, turning the ball over at the worst times. Still, the Gators are worse in that department, averaging 90th in FBS in turnover margin.

Florida has bodies on defense that can make this interesting. Consider close results against Georgia and Ole Miss, and a win against a then top-ten Texas at home.

And with nothing to lose, they could make this very close, especially against a Tennessee pass defense that is just 118th in the country.

College Football HQ picks…

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When: Sat., Nov. 22
Where: Florida

Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern
TV: ABC network

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

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Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks



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IOL Harrison Moore expected to transfer to Florida

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IOL Harrison Moore expected to transfer to Florida


Former Georgia Tech interior offensive lineman Harrison Moore is expected to transfer to Florida, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

The direct connection between Moore and Florida is offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. Moore, a former three-star recruit, played in 10 games as a true freshman under Faulkner, playing 184 total snaps at left guard, center and tight end. Pro Football Focus gave him a 68.8 offensive grade — No. 12 among freshman interior linemen with 100 or more snaps — 67.8 run-blocking grade and 72.0 pass-blocking grade.

He became a starter in 2025 — five games at left guard and four at center — playing 11 games. His PFF grades took a dip to 63.6, 65.5 and 68.4, respectively, but still ranked inside the top 30 among underclassmen with 500 or more snaps.

247Sports ranks Moore No. 229 overall among all players in the 2026 transfer portal cycle and No. 11 among interior offensive linemen.

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Florida’s interior offensive line room

Florida’s interior offensive line returns starting left guard Knijeah Harris and backup guards Roderick Kearney and Tavaris Dice Jr. Moore slots in nicely at center with All-American Jake Slaughter out of eligibility and Marcus Mascoll moving on. Noel Portnjagin and Marcus Mascoll are in the portal, and Damieon George Jr. and Kamryn Waites have exhausted their eligibility.

Moore would compete with redshirt freshman Jason Zandamela for the starting center role, or Kearney could move to center and Moore could play guard.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.





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More than 625 manatees died in 2025 in Florida but year also offered hope

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More than 625 manatees died in 2025 in Florida but year also offered hope


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  • Manatee deaths in Florida increased in 2025, with young sea cows being particularly vulnerable.
  • A federal judge mandated a temporary halt on new septic tanks near the Indian River Lagoon and required feeding plans for starving manatees.
  • Despite record deaths, there were signs of hope, including some seagrass recovery and the opening of a new manatee rehab center.
  • New research revealed that a common herbicide may weaken manatee immune systems and that the animals are more recent migrants to Florida than previously believed.

This past year brought mixed milestones for manatees: near-record deaths for young sea cows but also a bit more seagrass for grazing, some new scientific insights and other hints of hope for 2026.

While they kept dying in droves, sea cows on the Space Coast — among their most important feeding spots — found more seagrass in the northern Indian River Lagoon. And a landmark legal ruling mandated that Florida’s most popular threatened species will soon swim in cleaner waters and must be fed lettuce to prevent winter starvation.

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Here’s how the year in manatee news played out:

More manatees died but more also live

Good news arrived in recent years regarding the overall sea cow population. Florida estimated in 2021-2022 that its manatee population was between 8,350 to 11,730, up from estimates of less than half of that only a few decades ago.

But in 2025, Brevard County topped Florida’s manatee deaths, with young sea cows continuing to be the hardest hit, despite the local seagrass gains. State biologists suspect the young are still perishing as a result of a long-term famine.

Brevard typically leads Florida sea-cow deaths, because most seagrass (manatees’ main food) grows here in the 72-mile-long county’s portion of the 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon.

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According to the most recent stats from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, through Dec. 26:

  • Brevard had the most deaths: 118 manatees died in Brevard, compared to 100 in 2024. Lee County was second highest in 2025, with 113 manatee deaths.
  • Brevard’s deaths included: 9 by watercraft; 3 other human causes; 50 perinatal; 13 cold stress; 13 natural; 9 undetermined; and 21 not necropsied.
  • Statewide: 628 manatees died, topping the previous two years of 556 in 2024 and 546 in 2023. That still was less than the five-year average of 719 manatee deaths. Those deaths included: 97 by watercraft; 9 from a flood gate/canal lock; 9 other human causes; 135 perinatal; 33 cold stress; 63 natural; 50 undetermined; and 232 not necropsied.
  • One in five Florida manatees died within a year of birth: The 135 so-called “perinatal” manatee deaths — those that die within a year of birth — were 21% of the overall 628 manatee deaths last year. That was less than the record 149 perinatal deaths through Dec. 26, 2024, which increased to 154 total perinatal deaths for that year. But 2025 topped the five-year average of 104 perinatal deaths.

More landmark legal protection

In May, a federal judge ruled that Florida has to temporarily stop approving new septic tanks near the northern Indian River Lagoon and plan to start feeding manatees again when they are faced with winter starvation.

Brevard is offering homeowners financial help to meet that and other state septic-tank mandates.

The new manatee rules will remain in effect until the state gets a federal permit that allows so-called “incidental takes” of threatened manatees, the judge ruled. Incidental take refers to the unintentional (but not unexpected) death, injury, or harassment of a protected species during otherwise lawful activity.

In a separate legal battle, conservation groups have for several years been suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reclassify manatees from “threatened” back to “endangered.” Last year, the service declined to return Florida manatees to “endangered” status, a ruling environmental groups continue to challenge.

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New manatee rehab opens at Brevard Zoo

Last year, Brevard Zoo took in the first two manatee patients — Churro and Randa — at the zoo’s new $2.1 million sea cow rehab center. As with the zoo’s sea turtle rehab, the facility is not open to the general public. But on April 4, the zoo gave Gov. Ron DeSantis a behind-the-scenes tour as the zoo celebrated the center’s opening with a ribbon cutting.

Florida Tech makes strides with robotic manatee

In 2025, Florida Tech students made leaps forward with a robotic manatee, called “Mechanatee.” They hope in years ahead to use the robot to study real manatees in the wild without disturbing them. The robot will mimic the movements and communication of manatees to gather data on their behavior and habitat. The project is still in its early stages, but the team hopes to eventually test Mechanatee in Belize.

Other sea-cow scientific breakthroughs:

Several other groundbreaking studies in 2025 showed, among other things, that a popular herbicide is suppressing manatee immunity, that sea cows aren’t nearly as longstanding Florida natives as once thought and are sophisticated navigators.

  • In January, University of Florida researchers found that the popular herbicide glyphosate can reduce manatee immune cell activity by more than 27%. That suggests sea cows living near high agricultural or residential runoff are more vulnerable to diseases and infections, even if they aren’t directly starving.
  • Manatees are relative newcomers to Florida: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says on its website: “As its name suggests, the Florida manatee is native to Florida and is found primarily in coastal areas throughout the state.” But a landmark study in the journal PLOS One released in January 2025 by University of South Florida found almost no manatee bones in more than 70 Native American settlements older than a few hundred years. That suggests manatees only likely began migrating from the West Indies when the climate started heating up, beginning at the end of the 19th century with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the USF researchers concluded. Cooler temperatures lasting until the late 1800s probably kept cold-sensitive sea cows from migrating much north of the West Indies, USF concluded.
  • In April, a study lead by New College in Sarasota used post mortem MRIs to find that manatees are more sophisticated navigators than previously thought. “Despite this apparently ‘simple’ brain, manatees in the wild show some cognitively sophisticated behaviors, particularly in the realm of navigation,” the authors wrote. “Future work in manatees should examine local and global brain connectivity related to spatial navigation and other complex cognitive capabilities.”

Contact Waymer at (321) 261-5903 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on X at @JWayEnviro.



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Florida’s political sphere reacts to Nicolas Maduro’s capture as former Venezuelan president awaits court appearance

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Florida’s political sphere reacts to Nicolas Maduro’s capture as former Venezuelan president awaits court appearance



Now that the United States has captured Nicolas Maduro and intends to prosecute him and members of his family, CBS News Miami’s Jim DeFede brings us the latest developments and the fallout following the Saturday morning strikes.

Guests: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz/ (D) FL District 25

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              Lt. Gov. Jay Collins/(R) Florida

              Ambassador Frank Mora/Former U.S. Ambassador to OAS

              Raul Stolk/Expert on Latin America

              Jon May/Represented Manuel Noriega  

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